Music, Video and Perception: An investigation into shaping attitudes toward fish and their natural habitat

The current study investigated the influence of music and video on perceptions of fish, willingness to help aquatic conservation efforts, and attitudes about the marine environment. Participants were randomly distributed to one of six groups which varied by presenting information about marine life in a video format or through printed text (i.e., video or pamphlet) and on the background music that played during the presentation of that information (i.e., ominous, uplifting, or no sound). Participants, then, completed several counterbalanced measures, including rating how much six different words (i.e., three positive and three negative) applied to fish, Willingness to Conserve questions about ocean conservation and fish-repopulation, their knowledge about non-native species, and a series of questions assessing their attitudes toward the marine environment, which consisted of seven different categories (i.e., naturalistic, moralistic, ecologistic, or humanistic, dominionistic, utilitarian, or negativistic). A 3 (Music) x 2 (Video) multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant effect of video presentation on the combined dependent measure; an effect that was most pronounced on ratings of positive words in relation to fish. The results of the current study demonstrate that video presentation of information about fish and the marine environment can positively influence perceptions of fish.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Experimental Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2019

Author dc:creator

• Hemmings, Kayla-Ann

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kara Gabriel
• Mary Radeke
• Paul W. James

• Education
• Psychology
• Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1210

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-2220